Clasp.



F. x. Mmm..

pms?. APPLICATIQK FILED .EUNE [8 ISHS.

Bamm Jag. um.

UETTED sTATEs PATENT oEErcE.

.FREDERICK J'. MADEIL, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, T0 'CHARLES H. STREIT, OF NUTLEY, NEW JERSEY.

CLASP.

Specication of Letters Patent. Patented Jan. 1919.

.Application filed June 18, 1913; Serial No. 774,383.

To all whom 'it may concern.'l

Be it known that I, FREDERICK J. MADELL, a subject of the King of England, andl a resident of the city 0f Newark, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clasps, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved clasp which can be used for clasping the ends of bandsor strands of a flexible or semi-flexible nature, and is designed to hold material between the back plate and thesuch as thin steel bands which are smooth and slippery on their surfaces,and I have Vfound that considerable pressure is necessary, in the ordinary clasp, for holding the bands against slipping. The lever is also designed to provide a clearance so that the clasp, when supported on suppOrtingStripS, clears said strips, as wil-l be hereinafter described;

The particularuse of the clasp is in conjunction with dress forms, a sample of which is shown in Patent No. 991,241, and also in the kind of dress form shown in my application tiled June 20, 1912, Serial No. 704,-- 721. In dress formsof this kind tapes surround the form at certain heights, such as at the bust, waist, hips and so forth, and these f bands, when adjusted,are held by clasps.

The old style'of clasp, such as shown in Patent No. 991,241 does not indicate, except to 'the touch, when it is secure. In other Words, in the many adjustments necessary in changing the dress form, it is very likely that the dressmaker will overlook the fastening of one of the many clasps on the form, and when the form is to be'V used, pressure, when applied to such parts, causes a sliding'of the .tape through the clasp, and in this way the form is disarranged and partly collapsed -or extended and adjustment must begin all over again and measurements taken to proper dimensionsof the dress form.'

In my improved clasp the handle projects when the clasp 1s open so that the insure lthe L projecting handles interfere with the placing or itting of material on the dress form, thus insuring their observation by the dressmaker who presses the. handle to its locked position so as to get it out of the Way. In

the dress forms above mentioned, toggles land sliding clips are employed to hold contour wires, but these have not been illustrated in this drawing, except to show in dotted outline several contour wires which pass through the plate of the clasp.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure l is a top view of my im roved clasp. Fig. 2 is a face view of the *c asp shown .in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the lever employed inthe clasp.

The illustration shows one end* 10 of av strand which, in the dress form, is made of steel and is smooth and slippery and which will not be held by an ordinary clasp, j, this end of the strand 10 being called a fixed lstrand .end for the purpose of` this specification, and the end 11 being the loose strand end which is the element that is compressed between the lever and the back plate of the, clasp, although more than a single'strand can be compressed in the clasp. The clasp consists of a back late 12 having spaced projections 13 projecting therefrom, the projections 'in the form embodied lin the illustration consisting of the heads of4 rivets, which rivets are used to fasten |the strand `or tape 10 to the back plate of the clasp.

Projecting from the top and bottom edges Vof the back plate and in the spaces between the projections 13 are the ears 14. The lever which operates between the ears consists of an arm 15, the end 16 of which is adapted to be pressed to engage an element to be clasped or squeezed against the back plate. The arm is merged at its top edge into the angular portion 17 which is arranged at an acute yangle to the arm and extends into a handle 18, the juncture of the angular portion 17" and the handle 18l forming a nose 19, the

end 20 of the handle being turned outward to form a nger-piece to provide for the ready engagement of the handle by the E nger when the handle' is to be unlocked. The

lever isxed betweenI the `ears so that it swings thereln on the pivotal pin 21, the preferred form of arm to embrace 'the pivotal pin being illustrated in the drawing, the arm The arm and the nose are so disposed that Y when they are in position, the nose engages the element to be clasped, in the illustration i this being the strand 11, and forces it down between the projections 13 whereby it is bent to make it sinuous, and this is carried out further b engages the strandv 11 beyond one of the projections 13 and submits it to another bend' ing whereby two positive points of engagement are provided, and both points cause a bending of the clasped element, such as the strand 11.

In dress 4forms of the kind described Jthe clasp is arranged to be slid along certain contour wires which are not shown, except fortwo illustrated in dotted outline at 25 in Fig. 2, which contour wires extend through the perforations 26 in the ears 14. The handle with its curved portion and the angular portion 17 establishes a recessed part of the lever which permits the lever to be swung to an open position or far enough toward an open position to permit the release of the strand 11 and still clear the contour wires 25, and when so projected the handle is in the way of any iitting on the dress form, and

thus guards against accidental release of the form until the clasps are shut, the clasps, by their projecting handles, calling attention to the fact that they are still open. This location of the handle in rear of the contour wires gives a free and smooth contour wh@ interfere with the swinging ofthe handle of the handle is shut, butl does not in any way the clasp.

the locationA of the nose 19 which jectin In the drawing it will be noted that I have illustratel the clasp in Fig. 1 as being substantially in locked position, but in practice the parts are' disposed so that the end 16 of the arm of the lever passes beyond the center of the pivot to positively lock the clasp in position and thus give greater strength and security.

Having thus described I claim^is:- l

A clasp consisting of a substantially fiat back plate having rivets with heads projecting from the plate and spaced apart, a lever pivoted to said back plate, said lever having a nose arranged substantially radially in respect to its pivot, the lever also havingl an my invention, what angular portion substantially tangential to rivets whereby the tape is forced into a sinu- A ous formation, a handle on said lever probeyond the angular portlon and space awayfrom said tape when the juncture of the angular portion and the nose are in contact with the tape, whereby the handle may be readily grasped when the leverV is in locking positlon, and` means whereby the clasp may be mounted for lateral sliding movement on contour wires.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing, I.

have hereunto set vmy hand, this 17th day of June', 1913. j FREDERICK J. MADELL.

Witnesses: f

WM. H. CaMFmLD,

M. A. JOHNSON. 

